Located just 35 miles north of Puerto
Vallarta, Sayulita combines the charms of a small Mexican fishing
village with ammenetiesto make
your visit fun and comfortable . What people fall in love with
in Sayulita is its combination of beautiful coastal setting, small
town village feeling, and excellent restaurants,cafes, and shops.
One of the greatest pleasures of being in Sayulita is discovering
the magic of the town all by yourself, but here are a few tips to
get you started.

The Beach

Sayulita’s beach provides excellent swimming, boogie-boarding,
and surfing at all levels. The main beach area has several restaurants
and places to rent umbrellas and chairs for the day. There are also
places to arrange fishing/boat tours, surfing lessons and surfboard
rental, and other services. Our beachfront entrance is just 50 yards
from this part of the beach. The beach right in front of the house
(just to the left of the fishermen) has very good swimming and is
much less crowded if you are looking for privacy. You can get to another
beach by turning left on the road by the beach and following it up
through the cemetery (which is worth a visit in its own right) and
down to the other side (a 10 minute walk). This is Playa de los Muertos,
and the waves here tend to be very calm.

Eating

There are a remarkable variety of restaurants here for such a small
town!

For Mexican restaurants with lots of atmosphere we recommend Café
Leyzawhich is on the square,
across from the church. They are open for breakfast, lunch and dinner
– they have wonderful fresh juices throughout the day, and great
huraches for lunch and dinner. El Bicho is a wonderful
juice and torta restaurant under a large palapa on the road into town
a block or so from the square. They will make any juice you want.
Delicious (and VERY inexpensive) for breakfast and lunch. El
Costeno is right on the beach and it is a Sayulita institution
– you can sit under the palapa and enjoy fresh caught red snapper
(huachinango), dorado, or shrimp (camarones). Sayulita Café,
on the road into town has a lovely atmosphere and good food. A local
friend of ours – Carolina – will come by the property
in the mornings between 9 and 10 with fresh baked pastries and muffins.
Keep an eye out for her (or her husband). She will not knock on your
door unless you arrange that with her.

There are a few restaurants that serve international cuisine.
Calypso is located on the second floor under the huge palapa
across from the square, and offers international and Mexican cuisine.
Café Caminito is nearLeyza’s and serves Argentinian food. They have very nice
salads. Another very good Argentinian restaurant is Oooh La
La Che at the bottom of the winding path from our place.
They have excellent steaks. Don Pedro's is the two-story
palapa on the beach and has the most gourmet dining. Choco
Banana’s is on the square, and they have great breakfasts
and lunches and very good coffee (both hot and iced) as well as wireless
internet access. Rollie’s is open for breakfast
every day and they have wonderful pancakes and waffles. They have
recently opened for dinner as well, and now serve paella nightly.
RaintreeCafé,
right before the bridge into town, serves gourmet food in a lovely
setting – breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Shopping

Food: You can get most of your groceries in town
at the various small grocery stores. You can get fresh tortillas at
the tortillaria behind the square. You can buy fresh fish from the
fisherman on the beach (go down when you see a boat come in from the
patio) or by the fish store near the bridge into town. You can buy
fresh shrimp either from fisherman who come through the square (look
for a guy with a pickup truck, a cooler and a scale) or from the fish
store near the bridge. If you want to do big grocery shopping, there
is a "Comercial" supermarket on the road into Puerto Vallarta
past the airport. There are also a handful of beach stores where you
can purchase sun-tan lotion, bathing suits, etc.

Arts: Sayulita has a large number of shops and galleries
to purchase fine Mexican arts & crafts, jewlry, clothing and the
like.

Bookstore: Sayulita’s one book store has a
modest collection of English and Spanish language titles. This is
a great place to find out what is going on in town and to arrange
Spanish language classes which take place daily at the bookstore.

Internet: There are many places to get internet
access in town. Garcia Realty on the main road has
a fast connection, andSayulita
Net Lounge – across from the church on the square is
open late.

Surfing and other Activities

If you have a surf board, just go down to the beach, turn right,
and you’ll reach the surf break. You can get lessons at Tigre
Surf Schoolon the beach.
The Sininen Surf Shop (located on the main road to
the beach) rents boards by the hour, day or week. If you would like
to get out of town to do a guided jungle boat tour, or see local petroglyphs,
or go on “zip lines” in the jungle, there are arranged
tours available. Check the board at Garcia Realty,
or go to Sayulita Zip Lines near the baseball field.
To rent mountain bikes, go two blocks past the baseball field to a
place called Freakin’ Hot. There is a playground
in the baseball field for children. Horseback riding is available
on the beach. Fishermen will take you on fishing excursions for an
hourly rate. Tours Bahia de Sayulita is located just
to the right of the winding path into town, and you can arrange day
or over-night trips around the area and region.

Massage and Yoga

Lisa Brewer is a certified massage therapist, and
her massages are wonderful and affordable. She is usually booked more
than a week in advance, so e-mail her before you arrive to set up
an appointment. You can reach her at vortexinmex@yahoo.com.
Also, there are several new places in town that offer massage along
the roads into and out of town and so far we have heard good things.
There are many yoga classes in town. Check the bulletin boards at
Choco’s, Rollie’s or Don Pedro's.

Nightlife

A typical evening in Sayulita consists of a stroll around the square,
dinner in town, and an ice-cream at the helado store or a coffee and
desert at a café facing the square. There are also a couple
of nice and casual bars in town and on the beach, and Don Pedro’s
has music and dancing one or two nights a week. Many restaurants have
live music, especially on the weekends. Overall, Sayulita stays true
to its small-town ways – there are no discos or the type of
drinking places that are all too common in Puerto Vallara.

Cultural Life

It’s always exciting to be in Sayulita during any one of the
many Mexican holidays, where you may find parades, candle-lit processions
and singing, or fireworks. Among our favorites are:

September 16: Mexican Independence Day celebrates
the day that Miguel Hidalgo delivered El Grito de Dolores, and announced
the Mexican revolt against Spanish rule. In Sayulita, there is a huge
parade of school groups and band music.

November 1-2: Dia de los Muertos is an important
Mexican holiday that merges Pre- Columbian beliefs and modern Catholocism.
Europe's All Saints' Day and the Aztec worship of the dead contribute
to these two days that honor Mexico's dead. Sayulitans set up alters
around town to honor the deceased and there are lovely masses held
in the cemetery.

November 20: Mexican Revolution Day celebrates the
Mexican Revolution of 1910. There is a parade and children dress up
as revolutionary figures.

December 1-12: Dia de Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe, or the
day of the Virgin of Guadalupe is actually celebrated over
12 days with nightly candle-lit processions, singing and live music,
and fireworks all honoring Mexico's patron saint. This is our personal
favorite time to be in Sayulita.

March or April: Semana Santa (Easter) is the holy
week that ends the 40-day Lent period. This week includes Good Friday
and Easter Sunday following the same dates as they do in the US. The
town swells with Mexicans from the interior during this important
week of vacation, and the town is fuller than any other time during
the year.

May 5: Cinco de Mayo is the Mexican national holiday
that honors the Mexican victory over the French army at Puebla de
los Angeles in 1862. School children parade through town.

When to come:

High season: Sayulita’s peak season is November
through May, when it is cold up north but pitch-perfect weather in
Sayulita. During this time, November and early December are especially
nice as there are several Mexican holidays and the full thrust of
the season has not yet begun – while the weather is warm and
pleasant.

Summer visits: Increasingly people are coming to
enjoy the summer season in Sayulita. While it is hot, the town returns
to lovely, sleepy ways, and the rains make Sayulita and our surrounding
jungle incredibly and vibrantly verdant. Typically, the tropical rains
last for no more than an hour or so, usually at night – and
are usually followed by the sun coming out. What’s more is that
they can be incredibly beautiful, with dramatic thunder and lightning
displays over the ocean – which you can enjoy from your patio.
Most of our accommodations now have air conditioning, and all have
overhead and floor fans and ocean breezes flowing though them. Also,
we offer a large off-season discount at this time. (See also the Frequently
Asked Questions section of this site).